Of This and That

Want to buy newspaper stocks? You should see an analyst. But, according to Reuters there aren’t many around anymore.

As the valuations of U.S. newspaper publishers plunge and investor interest wanes, the ranks of stock analysts who rate their performance are thinning.

In some ways, there is less need for them as the trend is clear: the U.S. newspaper business is in bad shape and getting worse as readers and advertising dollars flee to the Internet and other new forms of media.

But the void in smart thinking on the publishing sector could exacerbate an already bleak view of the business.

“The fewer analysts you have … the less information that’s distributed, the less appearance there is in the minds of institutional investors,” said longtime newspaper analyst John Morton, who runs his own research firm. “And so it diminishes the industry as a whole.”

CLICK HERE for the full report.

For those watching the trade news about staff cuts in the newspaper business don’t be lulled into thinking that everything on the New Media side of the business is rosy.

According to radaronline with the current traffic success of Gawker—70+ posts a day, amazing SEO results, and relentlessly hammered-home top stories to maximize numbers—comes a downside. The company, which hands out blogger pay on the traffic for each writer’s own blog posts, has been paying out bonuses each quarter to nearly all the regular editorial staff of Gawker. “We’ve broken the site budget,” Gawker Media owner Nick Denton told the staff in an email yesterday. The only answer, from the company’s perspective? To keep getting more traffic—but to pay the producers of that traffic less for each pageview. So for the second and now, according to a new memo regarding the pay rate for the quarter that began this week, third quarters of 2008, the company has reduced the rate of pay per pageview. Other Gawker Media sites, including Jezebel, also had their pageview rate cut.

At the beginning of the year, the pay rate per pageview on Gawker was $7.50, according to Portfolio’s Felix Salmon; it went to $6.50 for the next quarter and it is now $5. (Other sites vary, based on overall traffic and ad rate.)

It could have been worse! Denton wrote: “[Gawker Media Managing Editor] Noah [Robischon]’s calculations would suggest a rate of $4.15. I’ve got it up to $5.00 per 1,000 views. Not as bad as it could have been, and you would still all have been in the black if this rate had been applied retrospectively, but it will still demand higher targets for each of you. As the site continues to grow, that’s going to happen again, but I hope that this is the last such substantial adjustment.”

This means that, for Gawker writers, a million pageviews a month to an individual writer’s blog posts will now net that writer $5000. Just back in January, a million pageviews would have gotten a writer $7,500. The reduced pageview rate means that writers must do more—or, of course, more popular!—work to even receive the same rate of pay.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

Talk about making lemonade when a food scare serves up lemons.

The salmonella scare has made finding what you will risk a chore, but they are out there.

According to a report in the Knoxville News-Sentinel the health warning on tomatoes has been a boon for Grainger County and other Tennessee-grown tomatoes, among the first crops declared safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Almost 900 people have been sickened by salmonella, including seven cases in Tennessee. Efforts by federal regulators haven’t stopped the reports of illness.

The warning issued by the FDA began a run on Grainger County tomatoes, said Randy Kirby of Neel’s Wholesale Produce in Knoxville.

“At first the Grainger County’s (tomatoes) got real hard to get … the price moved up. Since the FDA has declared Georgia’s crop safe, the demand on Grainger (has) lightened the load a little bit,” Kirby said. “It’s taking everything we can get to fill our orders.”

CLICK HERE for the full report.

David Norred’s favorite team had just lost a playoff game, so there was only one thing left to do: buy a dog.

According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, “It was the playoffs,” Norred testified Thursday in U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer’s courtroom. “We got beat the night before. I wanted to buy something to make me feel better. I couldn’t afford a truck, so I thought I’d buy me a dog.”

But not just any dog for this Alabama resident and Auburn University sports fan. Norred opted to buy what he believed to be a purebred English bulldog sired at the Rebel Ridge Kennels in Sullivan County. He paid owner De’Lynn Price $1,400 for the puppy and a registered pedigree.

Price is standing trial this week on charges that she swindled people out of money by selling them diseased imported dogs while promising pedigreed purebred puppies sired at her kennels. She also is accused of ripping off the Social Security Administration and the IRS, as well as intimidating witnesses.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

Journalist Tim Russert’s death focused much of the public’s attention on heart attack risks and after that glow began to wain a debate in the medical community about the best treatment for some elements of coronary artery disease continues to buld.

It’s all about the current surgical solution to such problems as plaque buildup and blockages or medications and lifestyle changes that - in the words of Dr. Arthur Agatston, prevent the great majority of heart attacks.

An interview with Dr. Agatston by everydayhealh.com can be found by CLICK HERE

At issue is whether not invasive and procedures are necessary all the time. The current popular model is for the “plumbing” procedure. However a trial involving 2,280 patients concluded that the use of surgical angioplasty and stenting coupled with medication provided no long-term advantage to the patient over a preventive treatment plan involving medication, diagnostic testing and lifestyle improvements.

Obviously that approach is new and not very high on the list of what’s best to do for many surgeons and hospitals.

The model for invasive procedures is locked into the medical psyche and revenue streams of corporate medicine and change won’t come easy, but even in death Russert is doing something he strived to do every week on Meet The Press - bring another option/opinion to the table for examination.

Police Departments that take advantage of some of the low-cost high-tech tools in crime fighting has gained some ground in Upper East Tennessee recently. And there are some trends in this category that haven’t found their way here, yet.

The first effort that gained public attention - and success - was the local most wanted listed posted on YouTube. And just last week the Washington Co. Va. Sheriff’s Department announced it was using e-mail for a neighborhood watch and crime tip e-mail distribution list. The e-mail list will allow authorities to alert communities about unsolved crimes, and receive valuable information in return.

Look for it to spread to the larger police departments before long.

So will the texting trend. We know from a recent study by Verizon that there’s a lot of texting going on in the region CLICK HERE for that report, but we haven’t heard of police taking advantage of it in the crime-fighting effort.

Not so in some areas. According to a report in USA Today, police in the 1970s urged citizens to “drop a dime” in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. Now in an increasing number of cities, tipsters are being invited to use their thumbs — to identify criminals using text messages.

Police hope the idea helps recruit teens and 20-somethings who wouldn’t normally dial a Crime Stoppers hot line to share information with authorities.

“If somebody hears Johnny is going to bring a gun to school, hopefully they’ll text that in,” said Sgt. Brian Bernardi of the Louisville, Metro Police Department, which rolled out its text-message tip line in June.

Departments in Boston and Cincinnati started accepting anonymous text tips about a year ago. Since then, more than 100 communities have taken similar steps or plan to do so. The Internet-based systems route messages through a server that encrypts cellphone numbers before they get to police, making tips virtually impossible to track.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

U.S. researchers reported they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding — offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.

According to a report by MSNBC they discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus — the one that causes cold sores — allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.

It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

It doesn’t seem to make much difference if yo heat you home with natural gas, LPG, electricity or heating oil, it’s likely your home heating bill will rise this winter.

The Roanoke Times is reporting that Roanoke Gas is urging customers to prepare for large seasonal outlays compared with last year, as prices could be up as much as 50 percent this winter.

“If natural gas and other energy costs rise as much as currently predicted and winter temperatures are close to normal, home heating bills could reach record levels,” company president and chief executive officer John Williamson said in a letter with June bills.

Williamson said he was aware he was delivering unwelcome news. But he said he would rather not have customers find out when they open their December or January bills and are juggling credit card statements bearing holiday purchases.

CLICK HERE for the full report

The Rogersville Review is reporting that Gov. Phil Bredesen’s addouncement of a $500,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant to Hawkins County has given the green light for a $1 million water storage tank in Church Hill.

Alan Jones, general manager of First Utility District that will oversee the project, said the tank will have a two million gallon holding capacity and be built on Jefferson Avenue in Church Hill.

“This tank will be used in addition to the half million-gallon tank already located at the site,” Jones said. He said the addition is necessary for extra storage due to a continued increase in eastern Hawkins County’s population.

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